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It's decision time, your opinions can help...


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Well I'm sitting here on the Wife's 20" iMac, and it's fast. Faster than I expected it to be, even with the craptacular stock 1GB of RAM which most definitely needs to be upgraded. They wanted $600!?!?!?!?! in the store to do the upgrade: pull out the 2x512MB and give them to me, and put 2x1GB in the iMac.

 

$600!?!?!?!?! $600!?!?!?!?!$600!?!?!?!?!

 

Good god man, that's almost half the cost of this machine. Forget it. :)

 

I'm going to Fry's tomorrow in the hopes they carry the Patriot 2x1GB package for $199 and I'll do it myself.

 

There is one thing though, and I hesitate to mention it because again I'm flip-flopping around.

 

Aside from the keyboard that is giving me nothing but fits (I can't stand curved ones like the stock Apple keyboard is, it's messing up my normal 100+ wpm rate something fierce), I kinda like this machine.

 

And yes, if you've read people saying they're much larger than they appear to be at the Apple Store, those people making those statements are 100% correct. This thing is huge, and it's just the 20". I'm considering (here we go) getting a 24" iMac like I did last week and that's that.

 

There are a few reasons the iMac is still a good choice over the MacPro.

 

iMac: 24" LCD, gorgeous, fast, slightly upgradeable (just the RAM or maybe the hard drive I can do myself), the possibility of a video card upgrade later on in the future, and several other notable features. My Wife loves Front Row already just from seeing it in action; the MacPro can be sortakinda hacked to do it, but it's not a native feature.

 

The MacPro, while a gorgeous machine, has had me flip-flopping back and forth the past few days. Yes, it's powerful as hell and I really could find uses for all 4 cores (currently), but I have to be honest and say the second CPU is nice but does it really justify the $1200 increase over the 24" iMac with the same amount of RAM? And that RAM is hideously expensive, needs to be installed in multiples of 4 or at least 4 sticks or you lose that massive 21GB/s of memory bandwith, doesn't come with a monitor or monitors (I figured another $400 or so for that 22" I was interested in or $650-ish for dual 20.1" LCDs.

 

So, the MacPro has upgradeability and a few other things going for it; the negatives are the increased cost over the iMac which is pretty damned fast itself as is, lack of Front Row (and again I understand I can get that functionality if I truly want it), and finally the lack of monitors just bumps the price even more.

 

If I could have a MacPro with just one CPU and a 23" ACD, then I could compare these two systems.

 

But, as it stands at this exact moment, after having finally purchased a real Mac computer and having played with it for a few hours now - I keep turning the brightness down on this thing; it's insane how bright it is - I think I'm going to go back to the Apple Store on Wednesday and walk out with a 24" iMac once and for all.

 

I know people think I'm a loon in this, but the choices are just a bit too close at times, way way apart at others, and this is a big purchase for me as it would be for anyone. In fact, these are the largest purchases I have ever made in my entire life. The most up to this point was $1000 for a '79 Monte Carlo that crapped out on me 2 years later.

 

I certainly hope these iMacs have more life in 'em than that. :thanks_speechbubble:

 

The price difference between the stock 24" iMac and the MacPro I wanted with a single 22" LCD clocks in at $1800+ - that's a pretty damned big chunk of the money I have available, so it's the 24" iMac that I'm quite certain I'm going with as of this very moment.

 

$1800 will pay for a lot of goodies: desks, chairs, floormats, a networkable printer if I can locate one, Firewire cables so I can hook up my HD DVR from Cox directly to both iMacs, the Wife's and mine too, 2GB of RAM in each machine if I can find it for a decent price, an external drive or two, maybe an external 16x LightScribe model also, and a lot more stuff we need and want.

 

Well, that's the latest and greatest so far. I'm about to install BootCamp and get XP and Vista up and running to see how well they perform on this iMac.

 

Have fun, always...

bb

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Well, here it is:

 

I'm just gonna get another 20" iMac for myself. That leaves almost $2300 in my pocket over getting the MacPro. So far it's been hours since I sat down in front of this thing, and I'm finding that it does everything I need it to do as fast as I'd hoped it could.

 

I find myself doing all the stuff I've been doing on the Dell running OSx86, but it's like lightning fast. Can't wait to see what 2GB can help it do for both of these machines.

 

That's about it for now. Thanks for reading...

bb

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Final update before I make the purchase:

 

It's the 24" iMac ftw!!!

 

Found 1GB sticks of RAM at Newegg for $103.99 each so 4 of those will be ordered tomorrow (meaning Wednesday, which is already is now that I look at the clock). 2GB in the Wife's, 2GB in mine. I'm trying to find a half-ass respectable price on a 2GB stick for mine to go to 3GB max and I can't do it; they're just stupidly expensive and will have to wait.

 

We'll be getting all the goodies tomorrow also, digital camera, new keyboards and mice (the Apple stock stuff is horrid to me, coming from a background of real keyboards for so long.

 

So that's the latest and greatest... almost the end of this quest and then the real journey begins... :D

 

bb

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hehe.. maybe you can consider the iMac 24" and a Macbook then?

 

its nice your wife got the iMac, so you can really get the "feel" .. and maybe save some money for another geeky gadget muahahah

 

sorry didnt mean to make you more confused... but its fun to have all the money, and spending to something you dreamin of..

 

good luck!

 

edit : btw what digital camera do you ordered?

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BLAH.

 

I usually get irritated at my Wife when she's as in- or undecisive as I've been in this process so far, so as expected, here I go again.

 

After careful consideration, and some soul-searching, I decided that 24" LCD is just too damned big for me. If Apple had designed the 24" so that the shell surrounding it wasn't just basically the 20" hit with a Max-O-Enlarge-O-Matic ray I'd most likely get it.

 

Sometimes I think they have such a raygun they use to shoot stuff and create a perfect duplicate but only a few percentage points bigger.

 

Anyway, here's the last configuration that I'm going to post, and this is it. I can't order it in the Apple Store unless I have a credit card, which I don't currently have. I'm waiting on my debit Visa to arrive that's linked to the newly created checking account, and then this is exactly what I'll be ordering. I'm getting nearly the best I can get (can't afford that 3GB price hike), but everything else is as good as it can get - all for the price of a non-upgraded 24" iMac.

 

So, without further ado, this is my absolute final unchangeable (unless a better price comes along - the hardware won't change, this is what I want across the board - but if someone out there can point me to someplace that offers a discount off the normal Apple retail or online pricing, go for it.

 

Here ya go...

 

================================================================

 

DATE SAVED: 10/04/06 - 06:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

 

SAVED ITEMS:

 

Part Number: Z0DH

Product Name: iMac, 20-inch, Intel Core 2 Duo

Options:

065-6776 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

065-6798 ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM

065-6637 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB

065-6638 500GB Serial ATA Drive

065-6529 SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

065-6524 Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)

065-6523 Accessory kit

Unit Price: $1,949.00

Quantity: 1

Net Price: $1,949.00

Estimated time to ship: 1-3 business days

 

SUBTOTAL: $1,949.00

(WITH TAX ~$2100.05)

 

================================================================

 

Pretty damned spiffy I'd say. After using my Wife's iMac for the past few days now, I came to realize the 20" is going to be fine, but the supporting hardware could stand a bump, so in mine we'll go for power. I'm skipping the 2.33 in favor of the 2.16 which is what hers already has. Besides, when all is said and done, I'll be working on getting Xgrid loaded and with that we'll still end up with 8.64 GHz of processing power combined from the four processors.

 

I'm happy with it. :(

 

Now all I have to get is a 1GB stick of memory for hers to get her 1.5GB and things for her will be great.

 

That's all she wrote. I swear. Seriously. I'm done unless someone points me to a cheaper price on that exact configuration, so if you find it, let me know will ya. I'll make it worth your efforts, promise, as long as you've got a PayPal account. :D

 

Have fun, always...

bb

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Pretty damned spiffy I'd say. After using my Wife's iMac for the past few days now, I came to realize the 20" is going to be fine, but the supporting hardware could stand a bump, so in mine we'll go for power. I'm skipping the 2.33 in favor of the 2.16 which is what hers already has. Besides, when all is said and done, I'll be working on getting Xgrid loaded and with that we'll still end up with 8.64 GHz of processing power combined from the four processors.

Nice,

 

For xGrid on Tiger client, this is the resource I used.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?sto...amp;query=xgrid

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Outstanding, and thanks Bearcat. I plan to do some DVD backups (on stuff we own, actually) and recently found DVD2OneX2, which allows you to use Xgrid for doing the distributed computing and number crunching involved with doing the recompression. Can't wait to test it out. :)

 

bb

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It's all chapel's fault, no escaping it.

 

He had to comment on the posting above and brought up the MacBook again.

 

So I blame him.

 

I'm getting a black MacBook in the next few hours, then I'll pick up the Samsung 20.1" LCD later tonight. I'll try to find RAM here in Vegas, if I can't then I'll order it from Newegg for the $103.99/1GB sticks pricepoint.

 

Dammit chapel... :)

 

But anyway, this will work out nicely for me. Going all the way back to the portability issue, since I'm going to be doing onsite computer service and support, I simply must have a laptop. That much is clear but I'm sad to say it took this long for me to finally come to that realization and admission to myself. I have to have portability not only for the job but for just going out and taking a computer with me.

 

Can't do that with the iMac. Well, I could, but... you get the idea.

 

So, "BlackBook" it is. And that Hummer paintjob I mentioned a while back is now a definite go. :D

 

And while I'm a bit peeved at chapel for opening his mouth, usually when he does it, good things happen, so... thanks for giving me a bit of a nudge back on track with the portability issue, chapel.

 

bb

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My apologies for the delay, but as most of you real Mac owners now, when you get the damned thing home you just wanna play with it. :)

 

Ok, so... I got the black MacBook. I laughed at the Apple "Genius" when he told me doing the in-store upgrade from 512MB (stock RAM) to 2GB would cost me $600 extra, then I reached into a small plastic bag and pulled out the 2x1GB kit from Patriot I just picked up at Fry's for $219.95.

 

Got it home, opened it up, then swapped the RAM out for the 2GB Patriot stuff before I ever powered it up. I apologize for not having pics to share of the "ritualistic unpacking," but I just don't have a digital camera - yet. That's the one thing other than a printer (which I picked out but haven't purchased yet) that's still on the "still to buy" list. Sorry, but I promise to get some pics of our setup here at home soon. My Wife did get her Sidekick 3 though, maybe I'll use the 1.3Mp cam in it to do some shots in the morning.

 

Opinions so far:

 

- I like it.

 

- It does run a bit warm for my tastes so I'll probably crack it open and redo the thermal grease muck job that Apple did on it at the factory and then the temps should drop considerably

 

- With the 2GB of RAM, it's fast, like really fast, almost as fast as the Wife's Core 2 Duo-powered iMac at 2.16 GHz simply because hers has 1GB and it's not enough, really - if you can get 2GB in any MacBook or iMac these days, it's simply a non-issue; it's a moral imperative, and it must be done :D

 

- I forgot to get the mini-DVI to DVI connector when I bought the MacBook so I had to travel back to the Apple Store and get it... $19.99 for a damned adapter, sheesh

 

- The display, while being only 13.3", is very sharp and easy to read. In Apple Stores or any retailer with MacBooks on display, it's not really a fair way to demo them because of the surroundings. Once I got this one home and had time to play with it, the display kinda settles on you and I adjusted to the small screen until...

 

- I located a Samsung 205BW 20.1" 1680x1050 DVI/VGA LCD at Fry's yesterday, it's the one I've been looking for the past two weeks or so. Thing is: Fry's is always out of stock, but this time I had cash in my pocket so I said, "If you're out of stock again, I want that one" and pointed at the demo model as I said 'that'. The guy, a foreign exchange student in town and working there, said "Sure, we can do that." Then I said, "What kind of discount for the floor model, considering I know you don't have the box, packing, manuals, etc."

 

Fry's throws everything away when they put something on display, a pretty stupid thing in some respects but I understand why they do it: if they didn't they'd need a warehouse 1/3 the size of the main store just to keep the boxes and accessories in.

 

So, the guy walked away for a few minutes, came back and said "We can give you the $50 rebate on it." The shelf price was $349, about average for this monitor. So with the $50 off that's $299 out the door. I just said one word:

 

"Deal."

 

Then he spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to find a box I could put the floor model in stuffed full of bubble wrap. I went off to find a DVI to DVI cable and a Firewire cable to get my cable set top box connected to the MacBook for recording duties. That's another story since I think I ended up getting the wrong cable, sooo...

 

Anyway, I go to pay for all this and the lady says "There's a $50 rebate on the monitor, but you don't have the UPC code anymore, sorry." I said "That's ok, gimme the rebate form anyway." So if anyone out there has a Samsung 205BW like mine, and you got it brand new, and you still have the box, and you'd care to mail me the UPC code ripped off the box, I'll split the $50 with you, right down the middle. But it's only good through the end of October, so PM me here at the forum if you're interested.

 

I like it.

 

Did I say that already? Cool. :)

 

It's nice, it fits my hands better now that I have it home and can position myself properly at the keyboard, and it's working very well. I actually put the Leopard preview on it last night for a bit, but didn't get too involved with it. I may do that again another time, or just wait on Leopard outright. It ran just fine, quick and snappy as expected because of the 2GB of RAM.

 

I can't stress that enough, really. It's sortakinda crappy to have this GMA 950 graphics chip in it, but I don't play games other than Quake 1 2 and 3 - and I intend to put them on and see just what this GMA can do. Also, I'll be putting Vista on here in a bit.

 

One thing I'll comment on from using my Wife's iMac the past few days:

 

Parallels, at least with the 1922 build, is ridiculously fast. Seriously, aside from Vista which I have to see running natively, I won't even need Boot Camp, and I'm being completely honest here - if you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro or any Core Duo/Core 2 Duo laptop - go get Parallels if you need Windows.

 

Screw using Boot Camp because of any possible issues you may or may not encounter. Right now here's my recommendation:

 

If you need some Windows functionality, there are two choices: Parallels, which allows the full version of Windows to be installed and it runs on the new Macs (any kind) almost at native or close to native install speeds. I'm not kidding about this. The difference I noticed with the 1922 build is shocking, and I shudder to think it can get better, but I'm sure they're working on it. The other choice is using Crossover for Mac, which allows you to install single applications into a self-contained "bottle" and run them under OSX.

 

Personally, after seeing how well Parallels is shaping up, I doubt I'll have any use for Crossover whatsoever, but YMMV, I'm just offering my opinions.

 

I'm about to install Parallels build 1922 on this MacBook of mine and see how well it performs. I'll install XP Pro SP2 in one, then create another for WinFLP (Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs, a stripped down version of XP that Microsoft created and it's much faster than regular stock XP). Might slap Windows Server 2003 on it also since that's even faster than WinFLP in most respects.

 

I'll be doing some standard benchmarks on each just for kicks, although 3D benchmarks are obviously out of the question. I'll also be installing each OS natively using Boot Camp just to see what this little box of black magic can do.

 

That's all for now. Thanks for those that offered advice and suggestions during my wishy-washy period.

 

bb

 

ps

It's all chapel's fault. :blink:

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As many from the IRC channel are already in on, I took the MacBook back and replaced it with a 15" MacBook Pro. Works better for me, has a "more professional" quality to it which will be important when I start doing my onsite support gig (people pay attention to the little things, yanno), and overall the bigger screen and the real video card were the convincing things to make me realize it was the right choice for me.

 

I'm still pretty pissed that Apple charges 10% restocking fees, however. That's free cash for them that I was planning to use for some goodies. Bastards.

 

Anyway, I'm loving the MBP so far. No issues, it runs Vista RC2 screamingly fast, actually. Of course, the 2GB I got (not from Apple, I assure you) definitely makes a big difference all around.

 

It runs hot, obviously, but I'll be cracking it open in a few days to redo the thermal grease muck job Apple did at the factory and then temps should come down considerably. Also, there are now some known methods for modifying the fan control kexts so the fans come on more often and stay on longer at higher RPM values. I could care less about the noise, but I do care about the excessive heat this beast puts off.

 

bb

 

ps

Gotta remember to edit that avatar to just Core Duo sometime... hehe

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